Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 45 - 045 Nearly Exposed at the Fourth Watch (Don’t Abandon Ah)

Chapter 45: 045 Nearly Exposed at the Fourth Watch (Don’t Abandon Ah)

Exhausted from the journey, Li Xianglu hurriedly poured hot water from the thermos, added some coarse salt into it, and carried it over for Mr. Li to soak his feet.

Even though he hadn’t traveled far, age doesn’t show mercy. After all, he was sixty years old now, and felt very fatigued after a whole day. Seeing his new granddaughter bringing water over to soak his feet, warmth flooded his heart, and his thoughts wandered far away, to another child, who by now must be a parent themselves.

When Li Xianglu came in after boiling the water, she saw that Mr. Li had already curled up and fallen asleep on the heated brick bed. She quietly took the water back out, then lit a fire in the external bed-stove since the weather was still a bit chilly, and the bed needed to be heated.

After tidying up everything, dusk had already fallen, and after a quick wash with the water she brought in, Li Xianglu went back to her west-side cave dwelling.

She drew the curtains, bolted the door, and cheerfully took out a rechargeable lamp from the Storage Ring. Once turned on, the previously dim cave immediately brightened.

With a happy spirit, she took out a set of long-sleeved pajamas, a big bag of potato chips, and a duck-down pillow from the space, feeling blissful leaning against it. "Cotton is still the best for blankets," she thought to herself. She had several blankets in her Storage Ring: three were military cotton blankets, one was a cashmere blanket, and one was a so-called soy-cotton blanket she had bought in her previous life, which turned out to be synthetic fiber filling and was nowhere as comfortable as cotton.

Comfortably lying on the somewhat hard but warm heated brick bed, Li Xianglu was in great spirits. She opened a book she had brought back from Grandpa Lan’s house and began to read.

It was a slim novel titled "A Young Girl’s Heart," printed somewhat coarsely. Inside it depicted a story about a girl named Aman falling in love with her cousin amid some scenarios.

For Li Xianglu, a 21st-century woman who had seen countless films, such a book was nothing more than an appetizer, but for this era, it was somewhat excessive.

It might even be classified as ’adult material.’ Li Xianglu’s eyes widened as she flipped to the last page – someone had written words on the inside cover.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Li Xianglu read it and then frowned slightly. Judging by the handwriting, it appeared to have been written by a girl. It was a letter that seemed to be either a confession or a request for someone to do something.

In any case, this book looked very dangerous. If discovered by someone with intentions, it could cause trouble. Thus, Li Xianglu threw the book directly into an obscure corner of the Storage Ring, then stood up to flip through another pile of books, anxiously examining every page, but luckily, there were no other suspicious aspects.

Early the next morning, Li Xianglu set an alarm as she couldn’t afford to wake up late again. She got up early, cleaned up, wore autumn clothes and a cashmere vest from her Storage Ring underneath, and on the outside, she put on the new grey, lapel jacket Mr. Li had bought for her yesterday. On her legs, she wore her autumn trousers and a pair of altered old trousers that belonged to the original owner of the body. The material was somewhat worn-out and could break easily if she wasn’t careful. Worried about tearing them, Li Xianglu wore a pair of black leggings underneath, so even if the outer layer tore, there would still be a layer for protection.

Mr. Li was already awake and practicing martial arts in the courtyard. Li Xianglu watched with delight, noting that his techniques were not bad. As a woman, having a low combat value meant being helpless in certain situations, just like the last time at the Wang family. She wondered if knowing some martial arts could have made the situation better.

Mr. Li saw that Li Xianglu had already put on the new grey jacket, looking very spirited. With her inherently delicate features, she now looked like a child from the city. But her shoes and trousers were too old, the fabric too worn out. He nodded and said, "Not bad, you look quite handsome when dressed up. After breakfast, we will go to the Jishui Team next door. There’s a demoted old tailor there with very good skills; I’ll get him to make you a few pairs of trousers."

Upon hearing about getting new clothes, Li Xianglu’s eyes narrowed into a smile as she replied, "Great, let’s get some for Grandpa too." Then she headed towards the kitchen. After a quick wash-up, she tied on an apron, boiled some water, and began to search for food at home.

She found a small cloth bag of red beans and another bag of glutinous rice – both excellent ingredients. So, she happily started to simmer glutinous rice and red bean porridge. Using a large pot in the countryside, she cooked it with firewood under a slow flame.

There were four or five baskets hanging from the roof beams. Li Xianglu took each one down to check: there were dried vegetables, vermicelli noodles, cured meat, yesterday’s leftover buns, and a large basket of eggs. After roughly counting, there seemed to be about forty or fifty in total.

Mr. Li’s living standards are not low, and as he gets older, it becomes especially important to eat well. Li Xianglu decided to fry a sunny-side-up egg for him.

Looking at the jars laid out on the ground, all were empty. What a pity. Although Ge Sanmei’s character is less than stellar, her skill in making pickles is truly impeccable; even mixed with plain rice, it could make one devour a large bowl.

However, pickles aren’t very healthy. In hot weather, it’s fine to make a small amount for consumption. It could be used as a condiment for porridge, which is acceptable.

Mr. Li’s oil jar is a two-pound jar, containing half a jar of oil. Li Xianglu sniffed it, hmm, it should be sunflower seed oil.

But Li Xianglu didn’t plan to use it; her Storage Ring was stocked with plenty of peanut oil. Peanut oil makes fried eggs so fragrant.

After frying the eggs and heating up four buns, the red bean glutinous rice porridge was also ready, thick and fragrant. Li Xianglu sneakily added a large spoonful of sugar to her own bowl, grinning as she went to call Mr. Li to eat.

Outside, she saw that eldest son of the Qin Family from next door had come to help Mr. Li split firewood. As soon as Li Xianglu came out, Mr. Li called out, "Xiao Qin, come have a meal first before helping Grandpa split the firewood."

Qin Xi gave Li Xianglu a slight nod as a greeting and dusted off the dirt from his clothes before heading inside to eat.

Li Xianglu was slightly taken aback. What was going on? He had eaten here yesterday, and here he was again today. But she didn’t pry further; after all, it was Grandpa Li’s matter.

Li Xianglu picked up the steamed buns from the pot and was carrying them over when she saw Qin Xi wash his hands and casually take a seat in her spot, lifting her bowl of sugared porridge and taking a sip. His eyebrows slightly knitted as he drank, but he swallowed it anyway.

Li Xianglu pouted unhappily. He had the nerve to criticize her sweet red bean porridge, what kind of person was he?

Without frying another egg, Li Xianglu cut the two fried eggs into pieces and brought them over.

When Mr. Li saw the golden eggs, he picked up a piece, took a bite, and commented with satisfaction, "Hmm, this fried egg is well done, very tender. But why does this oil smell so fragrant? It smells similar to peanut oil from the plains."

After happily eating a few small pieces of egg, Li Xianglu became worried upon hearing this; she had been too careless and had almost caused trouble. So, after finishing the meal, she quickly remedied the situation by pouring some peanut oil into the jar and mixing it before presenting it, as if offering a treasure, to Mr. Li: "Grandpa, smell this, this oil is very fragrant."

After sniffing it, Mr. Li nodded and said, "Hmm, indeed. Maybe the salesman at the coop accidentally mixed in some other oil into the sunflower seed oil we bought."

Li Xianglu asked curiously, "Grandpa, are there many types of oil at the coop?"

Looking at Qin Xi splitting firewood, Mr. Li was in a good mood and began to explain to his granddaughter: "Hmm, the coop has rapeseed oil, sunflower seed oil, and sesame oil. The highest quality is peanut oil, and it’s also more expensive."

Li Xianglu nodded and carried the oil jar back